Mozart & Contemporaries – Galuppi, CPE Bach, Cimarosa, Haydn
Víkingur Ólafsson (piano) (DG)
(scroll down for English review)
奧勒夫遜這張新碟，把莫扎特和同時期的作曲家並置，看似其他人的份量很多，但實際只佔全碟四分一，其餘都是莫扎特。我覺得奧勒夫遜選擇的其他人作品，多數都有簡樸的性質，令莫扎特看來其實沒那麼橫空出世，莫扎特雖是曠世奇才，但也是時代產物。Galuppi就選了兩個樂章（軌一及16），而不彈完整奏鳴曲，假如想再聽多一點，我之前介紹過一張全Galuppi專輯，連結：純樸古典風 – 劉偉霖.net (lauwailum.net)
海頓《第32鋼琴奏鳴曲》（軌八至十）間中會有人用來開場，奧勒夫遜這演奏精神飽滿，不交行貨，而他不彈重覆奏，應該會令耐性較低的朋友都可以聽得完。選彈這首海頓，應該是要給隔一軌的莫扎特《簡易奏鳴曲》（軌11至13）對照。
奧勒夫遜選了不少莫扎特冷門曲目，但通常放它們在頭半，若你從頭聽，未必分到哪首是莫扎特，哪首是其他人。不過在後半，不只重心轉到莫扎特，也更多選他較深邃的作品，甚至莫扎特這麼多原創作品都不夠，還要收錄改編曲，奧勒夫遜把《第三弦樂五重奏》的慢板（軌15）改編給鋼琴，還有李斯特改編的《聖體頌》（軌21），這兩首都不是入門級、家喻戶曉的莫扎特，但都值得認識，若平時遇不到原版，這是認識的好機會。
至於奧勒夫遜的演奏，我覺得他身為鋼琴家，對古典派的掌握比巴洛克音樂為佳。他這裏沒有追求過滑的音色，發音鏗鏘，我覺得要像他這樣彈，才能突顯現代鋼琴的優點。他的快板清爽，但沒有故作聰明或孩子氣，不過他的慢板對我來說，有些微造作、稍微過度悲傷，不過還是無傷大雅。
On first sight, this new Ólafsson album has a lot of non-Mozart selections, but do a summing up and you’ll see Mozart actually occupies three quarters of this album. I think Ólafsson’s non-Mozart selections are predominantly simple, and I’ll further speculate that Ólafsson would like to show that apart from being a timeless prodigy, Mozart was also a son of his times.
Galuppi might be the real discovery for many. Ólafsson only selected two movements (tracks 1, 16) instead of complete sonatas from which they’re from. But if those represent Galuppi at his best, then why not. Haydn’s 32nd Sonata (tracks 8-10) is a common concert opener. Ólafsson played it with gusto, as if it was a major item, that’s why it was so enjoyable. Most probably this Haydn sonata is there as a mirror to Mozart’s Sonata Facile (tracks 12-14).
Ólafsson tended to pick Mozart’s more obscure pieces in the first half, therefore it could be hard to distinguish Mozart from non-Mozart if you listen continuously. Not only the second half gravitates towards Mozart, Ólafsson also picked very profound pieces, even arranged the Adagio from the Third String Quintet (track 10) and this album closed with Liszt’s transcription of Ave verum corpus (track 21). These two aren’t the best-known Mozart but very well worth knowing.
As for Ólafsson’s playing, I felt he’s more at home with Mozart and the classical composers than with the baroque masters. On this album he eschewed an over-smooth legato sound and articulated the notes of the melodies clearly. I’m especially happy with the faster movements because Ólafsson played them with much spirit but without putting on a smart face. But the slower movements sounded a tad too slow and too self-pitying, but this isn’t a significant problem.